GROUP STAGE
the foot by drawing a match they really
needed to win against Mauritania. They
could still have advanced if they had
drawn their third match with Mali, but a
1-0 loss meant they went home instead.
Mauritania did not look overawed on
their debut but their deficiency in terms
of playing personnel was obvious from
the opening game.GROUP F
Holders Cameroon were not among the
pre-tournament favourites despite their
victory in Gabon two years ago, with
new coach Clarence Seedorf continually
questioned about his ever-changing
selection, formation and tactics. But
progress in the tournament was almost
assured after beating Guinea-Bissau 2-0
in their opening game, even though the
two goalless draws that followed
amplified concerns.
Ghana arrived at the tournament
hoping for a first trophy since 1982
while stretching to seven the number of
successive tournaments where they have
reached the last four. But after being held
by Benin in their opening game they too
were hit with an avalanche of doubts
about their potential to challenge.
Benin, in fact, stole the limelight as
they forced three draws to go through
to the second round in what was their
fourth finals appearance. Previously they
had lost eight of nine matches, drawing
the other, but although they remained
winless they advanced as one of the best
third-placed finishers in a triumph for
AFCON veteran Michel Dussuyer.
The French coach had been fired by
Ivory Coast after a poor 2017 tournament
so this was some vindication for his
reputation on the continent.from Amadou Haidara.
Tunisia limped through in second place
after three successive draws and looked
decidedly uninspiring as coach Alain
Giresse repeatedly shuffled his selection
in a vain effort to inject some spark into
the line-up. Although he was only
appointed to the job some six months
before the tournament, it was all too
apparent he had little idea of what his
best team was and Tunisia were therefore
nowhere near their full potential, even
though they would go on to eventually
finish fourth overall.
Angola were always going to be a
potential spoiler and they started in just
such a way by holding Tunisia in their first
game as they came from a goal behind
to draw 1-1.
But then Angola shot themselves inconceding, but they were seconds from
an embarrassing start against minnows
Namibia. The game was goalless deep
into stoppage time when Namibia
substitute Itamunua Keimune botched an
attempted clearance and headed the ball
into his own net. It was an awful ending to
a plucky performance from the southern
African underdogs, who eventually exited
without any points.
Morocco then edged Ivory Coast
in their second game and scored a last-
minute winner to beat South Africa for a
third successive 1-0 success.
The Ivorians also beat South Africa
with a second-half goal from Jonathan
Kodjia but deserved the win and after
hammering Namibia 4-1 finished second.
South Africa scrapped through
with a paltry three points after edging
Namibia. Ordinarily, this would be a
mismatch in terms of resources, but
Namibia held out for an hour before
Bongani Zungu spared South African
blushes with a headed goal from a
corner. Bafana Bafana would then go
on to advance as the last of the four
best third-place finishers.
GROUP E
Mali were the only team to post victories
in an uninspiring group, starting with
a 4-1 thumping of rookies Mauritania
and finishing the group by beating Angola
thanks to a stunning long-range effort
Plucky...Namibia’s
Peter Shalulile
takes on MoroccoDenied...Mali keeper
Djigui Diarra beats
Gelson of Angola